In the Lion’s Mouth

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh Abu Bakr Dulaf ibn Jahdar ash-Shibli (q.s.) was a famous Sufi and a faqih in the Maliki madzhab.  Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi (q.s.) said of him, “Do not look upon ash-Shibli with the eye by which you look at others.”  He also said, “Every people has a crown and the crown of these people is ash-Shibli.”

One time, an unjust ruler of the land decreed that the wali should be thrown to the lions.  The lion had the shaykh’s head in his mouth, and yet he did not quiver or cry out.  But Allah (s.w.t.) had Decreed that he should be Saved and thus when the ruler saw the lions would not kill him, he freed Shaykh ash-Shibli (q.s.).

Someone later asked him, “What went through your mind when your head was in the lion's mouth?”

Shaykh ash-Shibli (q.s.) replied, “I was trying to remember the ruling on the cleanliness of lion saliva, and whether I would have to perform wudhu or ghusl if I were to escape the encounter.”